Strand-twisting apparatus



Sept. 18, 1928. 1,684,533 G. A. BQUVIER STRAND TWI ST ING APPARATUS Original Filed Jan. 27, 1926 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Sept. 18, 1928.

G. A. BOUVIER STRAND 'IWISTING APPARATUS Sept. 18, 1928.

G. A. BOUVIER STRAND TWISTING APPARATUS Original Filed Jan. 27, 192 5 Sheets-Sheet Sept. 18,, 1928.

G. A. BOUVIER STRAND TWISTING APPARATUS Original Fil 1926 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 P m- A70 Sept. 18, 1928. 1,684,533 G. A. BOUVIER STRAND TWI STING APPARATUS Original File Jan. 2'7, 1926 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Sept. 18, 1928.

UNITED STATES 1,684,533 PATENT OFFIE.

GEORGE ALFRED BOUVIER, OAK PARK, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO WESTERN ELECTRIC COMPANY, INCORYORATED, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A GORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

STRAND-TWISTING APPARATUS.

Application filed January 27, 1926, Serial No 84.000. Renewed May. 10. 1928.

, This invention relates to strand twisting apparatus, and its primary object 1s theproision of 'an' improved apparatus requiring aminimum of operating power for efficiently 6 and uniformlytwistin g one or more strands at a high rate of speed. mproved apparatus embodying the present invention is particularly well adapted for. use ini a strand twisted apparatus of the .type fully illustrated and 'describedpln the copending app'lication of G. A. Bouvie'r. Serial No. ,8. O .'(O9, filed Jan.-'12,' -1926, which apparatus produces a flexible electrical conductor, by twisting a plurality'of tinsel served tlireadsaround a cotton core.

. In accordance with one embodiment of-the present invention,.a'cotton core and a. plurality of tinsel served threads are drawn through a twisting mechanism by a capstan Avhicli advances the twisted strand through a tubular flier arm, which arm carries the [strand around-an axis of rotation coincidin?! 'with the rotating axis of the twisting mechanism. The flier arm is ,of stream-line .25 construction, beingtapered in a direction opposite to that of its rotation; thereby decreasing, theamount of power required for opcrating the apparatus. Bushings associated wi.th th eflier are rotated around the twisted strand in the direction of the'twistiand frictionally engage the twisted strand to prevent untwist-ing thereof while passing through the flier arm, thereby maintaining the twists uniform throughout the entire length of the strand.

Other objects and features of the inven tion will become apparent in the following detailed description. reference beina had to the accompanying drawings. wherein Fig. 1 .is a plan view of an apparatus embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof;

Fig. 3.is an enlarged fragmentary plan section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2 46 Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken on the line 44 of Fig. 1

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken on the line 55 of Fig. 3; l

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary detail view showing the take-up capstan and the associated take-up mechanism;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken on the line 77 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary section taken on 4 the line 8-8 of Fig. 7;

23 (Fig. 3)v which is drivenby an electric 9 is an enlarged detail section taken on the line 9 9 of Fig. 2, a'nd Fig. 10 illustrates diagrammaticallythe manner in which the improved apparatus applies tinsel .coyered thread to a cotton ore.

- Referring now to the drawings indetail, and particularly to Figs. 1 and '2"th e'r'eof. the improved apparatusis mounted'in and upon a frame which comprises a base plate member 20, a vertical wall. 21, and a top plate member. 22. Rotatably journald suitable bearings formed in the framenielnbers 20and 22 is a vertically disposeds haft motor 9/ (Fig.2) by nieansofsuitable. earing indicated at 25. Agear 26 F igs, 1, and i 4) 'is secured -to the shaft -23.,.and .me hes with a gear 27 keyed .to acollar 28.;which collar forms part ofthe driving element/of aclutch 29 (Fig. 2) through whichv the shaft 23 may be operatively connected: to and dis connected from a .verticallydisposed shaft 30, as disclosed in the aforementioned copending application. I I

Secured-at opposite .ends of the shaftBO are gears 32 and 33 which mesh with gears 34 and 35, respectively, the ear esaaa 35 being meshed with gears 36, and 37, respectively, (Figs. 3,4and 5). The gears 36 and 37 are keyed to vertically disposed trunnions 38 and 39, respectively, which are disposed in axial alignment; and which carry heads 41 and 32. respectively, of a flier 43. The flier heads 41 and 42 are interconnected by ,a pair of tubular arms 44: and 45 as clearly illustrated in Fig. 2, the flier arms 44 and 45 are of stream-line construction, the advancing portions thereof presenting a curved or blunt surface which tapers rearwardly. ter- 95 minating in a trailing edge. -This construction of the flier arms materially decreases the amount of power required for operating the apparatus since it decrea es air resistance by preventing vacuum pockets from being formed behind the trailing portions of the arms.

Disposed intermediate the flier heads 41 and 42 is a yoke/t6 which is held stationary durin the rotation ofthe flier by means of suitable planetary gearing (not shown). For a detailed illustration and description of a planetary gearing construction which is particularly suitable for use with the present embodiment of the invention, referice hold a'supply 0 co'tton' core.

once is made to the above mentioned copending application. The details of this construction have been omitted from the present application for the sake ,of simplicity since a full disclosure thereof is not essential to a complete understanding of the present invention.

Rotatably journaled upon a tubular portion 48 (Fig. 4) of the frame member 22 is a spider-like member 49 having a plurality of arms 50 (Fig. 1). Rotatably journaled in the outer end of each arm '50 is a spindle 52 carrying a removable'supply reel. As shown in the drawings (Fig. 1), seven supply reels are provided, six of the supply reels being adaptedto hold tinsel served threads, and one of the sup ly reels being adapted to The sup ply reel which holds the cotton core is identical in construction with'the several sup ply "reels which T hold the tinsel served threads, butfor; the purpose of-ith is explanation it is identified b the" reference character 53, the other suppl y reels being identified by the referencec'haracterf54." Aligned with the cotton supplying reel is a sheave-55 mounted on a bracket56 carried by-the mem-- ber 49. Asssociated with-each ofthe su )ply reels is a strand tensioning device, each of which comprisesa guide sheave 58 mounted on the-free end of'a lever 59-which is pivotally carried by the spider arm 50 with which the particular sheave is associated. For a more detailed disclosure and description of the supply reel mountings and the strand tensioning device, reference is'made to the above mentioned copending application.

Seated in the upper end of the tubular portion 48 is a plate 60 having an aperture 61, the axis of which is coincident with the axis of the trunnion 38 (Figs. 1 and 4). The plate 60 is also provided with six apertures 62 which are equi-distantly spaced from the aperture 61 and from each other. In the operation of the apparatus, the cotton core is passed through the aperture 61 and the tinsel served threads are passed through the a ert-ure 62.

Keyed to t e trunnion 38 is a gear 64 meshing with a gear 65 rotatably journaled on a shaft 66 which is rigidly secured within the frame (Fig. 4). Constrained to rotate with the gear 65 is a gear 68 meshing with a gear 69 which is formed integrally with a tubular member 70 rotatably mounted upon a tubular extension 71 of the trunnion 38. The ratio between the gears 69 and '68 is such that the tubular member 70 makes two revolutions for each revolution of the flier 43. Rotatably journaled upon the tubularmember 70 is a sleeve 73 having a capstan 74 formed integrally therewith. A gear 75 formed integrally with the sleeve 73 meshes with a gear 76 which is constrained to rotate with the gear 68, the gears 75 and 76 being J per end of the tubular member 70 and rigidly secured thereto is a cap or twisting member 80, which carries sheaves 81, 82, 83 and 84 aligned with grooved rollers 85, 86, 87 and 88, respectively, the grooved rollers 85, 86, 87 and 88. beingangularly disposed with re,-

.spect to the capstan 74 and being carried by the member 80. The grooved rollers 85 and 87 are aligned with the upper portion of the ca stan 74 and are adapted to deliver the twisted strand thereto, whereas the grooved rollers 86 and 88 are aligned with the lower portion of-the capstan 74 and are adapted to receive the twisted strand as it leaves the capstan. Although four sheaves'and' four grooved rollers are shown 7), functional use is made of only two of the sheaves and two of the grooved rollers. as for instance the sheaves 81 and 82 and the grooved rollers 85 and 86, the sheaves 83 and '84 and the grooved rollers 87 and 88 being provided to dynamically balance the member 80.

Connected to the lower end of the tube 78 and disposed in axial alignment therewith is a tubular member 90 which is constrained to rotate with the tube 78 by means of a bushing 92 having one end secured to the lower end of the tube 78 and its opposite end threaded on the upper end of the tubular member 90. Formed on the lower end of the tubular member 90 is a bevel gear 94 which meshes with a bevel gear 95 formed at one end of a bell mouth bushing 96 r0- tatably journaled in the head 41. The bushing 96 is so disposed within the head 41 that it interconnects the flier arm 44 and the tubular member 90, thereby providing a continuous passage for the twisted strand between the tube 78 and the flier arm 44.

Mounted within the trunnion 39 and disposed in axial alignment therewith is a tubular member 98 having a plate 99 rigidly secured at its upper end (Fig. 5), the plate 99 being fastened to the yoke 46 thereby serving to hold the member 98 stationary during the operation of the apparatus. Formed on the lower end of the tubular member 90 is a bevel gear 100 meshing with a bevel gear 101 formed at one end, of a horizontally disposed bushing 102 rotatably journaled in the head 42. The bushing 102 and the tubular member 98 are provided with cooperating bell shaped mouths or openings and are positioned so as to form from the followin 98. Associated with the capstan l-1 is an idler roller-105 (Fig. 6) having a plurality of peripheral grooves cooperating with the peripheral grooves of the capstan to ic'ceive ,the twisted'strand asitis withdrawn from the tubular member 98. Disposed above the capstan 104 and carried by the yoke 46 is a strand distributing device 106 which is employed to distribute thc'twisted strand upon a take-up reel-10?.removably mounted upon the yoke 46." Suitablegcaring (not shown) -is provided for driving the capstan 104 at' 'ausurface-speed which is less than the surface speed of the capstan 74 The purpose of this construction will become apparent description of the operation of the-apparatus.

In ,the'operation of the above described apparatus, a supply'reel 53 holding a supply of cottoncore and six supply reels 54 holding' tin'sel served threads are placed upon the spindles 52, the supply reel 53 being; placed upon that spindle 52 which is aligned with the sheave 55. The cotton core is passed over'the sheave 58"aligned therewith,

' over the sheave 55, and through the aperture I61 in "the' plate 60. The tinsel served threads are' passed over the sheaves 58 aligned therewith and through the apertures 62 in the plate 60. As diagrammatically shown in Fig, 10, the cotton core and the tinsel served threads are then guided by the sheave '81 to the grooved roller 85 which delivers them to the capstan 74. After one or two turns of the cotton core and the tinsel servcd'threads have been wrapped around the capstan 74, thev are threaded around the grooved roller which guides them to the sheave 82 from which they are passed downwardly through the tube 78, ,the tubular member 90, the rotating bushing 96, the flier arm 44, the rotating bushing 98, and then upwardly through the tubular member 102 to the capstan 104. After several turns of the cotton core have been wrapped around the capstan 104 and the associated grooved roller 105. they are guided to the take-up reel by the distributing mechanism 106. The motor 24 is then connected to any suitable source (not shown) of electrical energy. thereby continuously driving the shaft 23. The shaft is operatively connected to the shaft '23 by means of suitable mechanism (not shown) which may be similar to that described in the above mentioned copending application.

Rotation of the shaft 30 is transmitted through thcgcars 32 to 37 inclusive ,to rotate the flier 43 in a cloclurise direction, the gears 32, 34 and 30 serving to drive the upper head of the flier, and the gears 33, 35 and 37 scrving to drive the lowcrvhcad thereof. Rotation of the flier -13 "is transmitted to the tubular member 70. the tube 78, and the twisting member hrouglrthe gears U 65. 68 and (19 (Fig.,- i).i its hereinbefore described, the ratio between these gears is such that the tubular memberzTO together with the twistingmember n'iakes' two complete revolution for each revolution of the flier 43. Furthermore, the construction is Such that the direction r itmnbn of the twisting member 30 is the same as that of "the flier 43. I It is obviousthereforethat the twisting member 80 will .form two com ilete twists in the cotton core and the .'tinsel served threads for each revolution of the fiier43.

The capstan 74 is driven fromthe trunnion 38 through the gears 64,-65,.76 and 75. As hereinbefore describedi the ratio between these gears is; such that thec'a stan 74 travels at a" speedwhich isslightly greater than the speed of the flier {Sand slightly less than! he speed of the twisting member 80. It is obvious therefore that, each revolution of the flier will cause a portion of the twisted strand to be applied on the upper portion'ot' the capstan H by the grooved roller while another portion of the strand is advanced by the capstan 74 to the grooved roller 86 from which it is drawn by the lower 'capstan 104, over the pulley "*1. through the tube 78,- t-hrough ,the tubular member 90, etc., as hcrcinbefore described.

During the operation of. the apparatus, it will be noted that the tubular member 90 and the bushings 9G and 102 are rotated in the direction of the twists in the twisted strand and the Inner walls thcrcof frictionally cngage l'he moving strand. thereby preventing untwisting thcrcoi' as it is drawii fr m tl twisting apparatus to the take-up sp o This insures that the twists in the linirin-i product will be uniform and will remain ub- 'stantially as origiiially forun-d by the Ir. Lt-

ing member 80. Furtbcrimirc. due to the capstan 104 being driven at a sli htly lower Slll'fiHL, speed than the capstan 44. it is apparent that thc capstan 7-} will tend t ad vance the strand to the rolh-r slightly faster than it is withdrawn therefrom by the capstan 104. This arrangement, obviously. tends to introduce a certain amount of slack in the strand between the capstans 74 and 104. However, since only one or two turns of the strand are wrapped around the rapstan 7-1, the strand is permitted to slip around this capstan as the tension thereon decreases, thereby serving to maintain the tension on the strand between the two capstans substantially constant. The double capstan arrangement also decreases. the amount of tension'onthe strand as itis advanced through the apparatus since it eliminates binding to a certain extent, thereby decreasing the frictional resistance-presented to the moving strand. 'It has been found in actual practice that a minimum amount of power is re uired for operating a twisting apparatus iavin a flier constructed in accordance with the eature of this inventionyw'herein the flier arms are stream-lined as shown in the drawings. This construction of the flier armssubstantiallydefc rea'ses the operating cost of the apparade-whim, obviously, decreases the cost of the finished product. Altliouglf the invention as herein illustrated and; described is particularly well adapted use iniconn'ectio'n with-an apparatu s'ffor twisting a plurality of strands around a central core; it should-be understood that the invention is capable of other applications and should be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

".VVhat i s'claimed is: r 1;"In straiid twisting apparatus, strand twisting meansfstrand take-up means, a .tubnlar member for carrying, the twisted strand bodily around "an axis ofrotation and for guidingthe strand from the twisting means to the take-up'means, means for advancing the strand through the-tubular memfber, and means for rotating the tubularmember and said advancing -meansaround --.a-

common axis of rotation other than that of the take-up means.

2. In strand twisting apparatus, strand twisting means,- means for advancing the strand therethrough, a rotatable member tapered in a direction opposite tothat-of its rotation for guiding the strand from the strand twisting means, means for rotating said member to rotate a portion of the strand bodily around an axis of rotation, and

aplurality' of positively rotated bushings engaging the'strand to prevent -untwisting thereofas it is advancedthroughthe apparatus. a Y 3; In strandtwisting-apparatus, strand twistingmeans, means for rotating a portion ofthe strand bodily around an axis of rotation, the latter means .comprising .a,rotilting member having a iblunt advancing.

portion and a tapered trailing portion, a

rotatable bushing for guiding the strand,

and means for positively rotating the bushv positively rotating said bushingaround thetwisted strand in the direction otithe'twists to prevent 'untwisting of the strand-as it delivered to the take-up means. Y .5. In strand twisting. apparatus strand twist ng means, strand take-up'means, a tu- 5 bular member for rotating {the} twisted strand bodily around an. axisot rotation other than that .of' the take-up means, a capstan for delivering the twistedgstrandto tubular member,=and means-tor otatingthe r capstan and the twistingfmeans-around a common axisof-rotation. U

6. In strand, twistin apparatus, strand twisting means, stran .take-up means, a

twisted strand- ,bodily around .an axisptrotation, said flier comprising a t 1bula.r member having a rotatable bushing positioned ,at

.0110 endthereof, and meansfor-positively rotating said bush ng around the twisted.

strand in the direction of the twists. to; prevent nntwisting of the strand as it. is 'delivered tothe take-up means. i

In strandv twisting apparatus, strand twisting means, strand take upmeans and a flier interposed therebetweenfor rotatin the -twisted strandbodily around an axis o r.o

t tion, said flier including a tubular member through-which ,the strand is'advancedfand flier interposed therebetweenfor-rotating the means associated therewith for preventing.

untwist-ing of I the strand, the. said, tubular member having a blunt advancing portion and av tapered. trailing portion and being :shaped so as to guide .th'elstrand through a path conforming to the curve'whioh a strand "assumes avhen its ends are. fixed; to spaced points on an axis of rotation audit is rotated bodily around the axis. In witness .whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 12th. day .of January A. .l-). 192 A I GEORGE ALFRED BQUVIER. 

